Audra McDonald at Madrid's Teatro Real: She Ran Spain by Randi / February 3, 2015
Philadelphia’s vegan scene keeps getting better and better. Seriously, every week an announcement comes for a new vegan something in the works. The most important announcement of last year was that Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby of Vedge were opening a more casual vegan joint with a menu inspired by global street food. Considering the owners’ track record, we all expected V Street to be top-notch. Well, now having eaten every single item on the dinner menu, I can assure you that it’s more than you could possibly wish for. It’s incredible. Let’s take a look at this ridiculously great dinner (an epic lunch happened as well; we’ll do that later.)
On my recent trip home to Philly, my parents told me to pick a restaurant for a special dinner out. Obviously we went to V Street, the restaurant I’ve been freaking out waiting to go to since it opened. With four non-vegan adults eating with me, I was extra hoping that everything would be incredible, to prove how great vegan food can be. That’s a lot of added pressure that I secretly put on V Street, but they more than came through. My dinner mates were blown away.
On my recent trip home to Philly, my parents told me to pick a restaurant for a special dinner out. Obviously we went to V Street, the restaurant I’ve been freaking out waiting to go to since it opened. With four non-vegan adults eating with me, I was extra hoping that everything would be incredible, to prove how great vegan food can be. That’s a lot of added pressure that I secretly put on V Street, but they more than came through. My dinner mates were blown away.
As my non-vegan parents and two of our non-vegan friends pored over the menu, my dad (I think) said to the waitron (omg p.s. this is my new fave non-gendered word) “Why don’t we just get everything?” I love that that was not my idea. Never knew I could get away with that. Having done it now, I realize it’s really the only wait to eat out. Get the entire menu, every time. I don’t care where you are. It’s the coolest.
Waitron was like, that’s actually a good amount to order for a group of five, so right on. Plates started coming out reasonably soon considering how edge-of-my-seat eager I was. First up were crunchy papadums with whipped dal and aleppo pepper. I freaking adore the idea of whipped dal, or lentil puree if you don’t want to sound as fancy.
Waitron was like, that’s actually a good amount to order for a group of five, so right on. Plates started coming out reasonably soon considering how edge-of-my-seat eager I was. First up were crunchy papadums with whipped dal and aleppo pepper. I freaking adore the idea of whipped dal, or lentil puree if you don’t want to sound as fancy.
In Indian restaurants in my neck of east London, papadums are always already on the table with little saucers of pickley things and sour sauces. Not my favorite. If papadums regularly came with what was effectively hummus made with lentils, I’d eat them nonstop. This was a fantastic start. (Also easy to share, which when you are sharing everything five ways becomes important.)
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One of my favorite dishes came next, and it was something we didn’t order, just a thank you treat from the kitchen. These were soft pretzels – what Philly does best – with a gingery mustard. These pretzels, oh my god. They were so perfectly greasy and somehow melty and doggone delicious. I like to think that they gave this just to us because we were the special table and I’m so famous, but I’m pretty sure everyone got it.
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Soft pretzels. I may have just loved them because they were free. I love free things. Nah they were delicious. |
Shishito! That’s fun to say! |
Another appetizer-type dish was the shishito robatayaki. While we still enjoyed this, it was everyone’s least favorite dish. The slender green peppers were nicely grilled, but they just kind of tasted like grilled peppers. Nothing more, no pomp, no circumstance. If you don’t love plain grilled peppers (none of the saucing really came through because man ‘grill’ is a strong flavor) then you should skip this. It was totally fine, just not special.
Luckily, everything else was! Next up was the market greens, with honshimeji XO sauce and little circles of braised turnip. Now I have no idea what honshimeji XO sauce means, but I know I like saying it and I really love eating it. Okay I think it means mushrooms because there are some in there. This was a fantastic side dish that could make anyone love eating your greens. |
Lighting was much better at lunch, stay tuned.
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Now we’re getting to the unbelievably mind-blowing stuff. One of these fantastic dishes was the harissa grilled cauliflower with spiced avocado and green olive chermoula. This was a party, oh my goodness. I can never eat cauliflower any other way. The mix of complex flavors worked so well and the stems seemed almost deep-fried, they were so perfectly grilled. Oh man, so good. This is a must-get.
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Who knew cauliflower could be so good? Or, good? |
Another must-get are the Peruvian fries. These are really big chunky potato wedge-style fries with aji amarilla, cilantro, olive, and peanut droppings. They tasted like the best loaded cheese fries you may have had in your ignorant youth. Just amazing. I want these again right now.
Carrot asado and jerk trumpet mushrooms. So so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so…good.
Two more dishes under the “Market” section of the menu were equally stellar. The Carrot Asado comprised whole long grilled carrots with smoked black lentils, a bbq glaze, and curtido, which is a Central American fermented cabbage relish. Some cilantro was thrown on top and it was all perfect. Below left is the Jerk Trumpet Mushrooms, mushrooms glazed with dark rum, dotted with cashew pieces, and served with a dollop of sweet potato mash. Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods, and these were some of the best ever.
Next up came the dishes under “Plates”, which are more like entrees. All of these dishes were also just I can’t even continue to think of words they were that good. My absolute favorite, maybe of the whole night, was the Langos, an Eastern European deep-fried flatbread, sort of like an extra greasy focaccia, with smoked beets and sauerkraut remoulade. This, man alive. This was like an extra-puffy savory donut. If you go to V Street get 5 of these. Even if you are by yourself.
WHY ARE YOU SO BEAUTIFUL
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Another flatbread was also beloved by our group and may also inspire epic poems in its memory. The Charred Eggplant Flatbread with zhoug hummus and za’atar pickles was perfection. I’m pretty sure zhoug is a ghost in the upcoming (amazing) Ghostbusters remake and I didn’t know you could za’atarize pickles but whatever’s going on here, it’s RG (real good).
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YOU’RE EQUALLY PRETTY |
Blurry tofu. Blurfu. No that doesn’t work.
The other two ‘mains’ were more main-like, focused around a protein of tofu or tempeh, which along with seitan are cooked by Landau like no one else in the entire world. The Piri Piri Grilled Tofu with coconut chana salad and pickled celery won over our guests who were scared of tofu and I’m pretty sure had never really had it before. I loved it because I finally had great piri piri something! I live next to a Nando’s, where everything is piri piri (well peri peri), but they literally have not one vegan item, so this has been a long time coming. Just delicious.
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Next up is one of the absolute best dishes of the night. It might be my favorite. I mean everything is my favorite but this, man, this is awesome. The Korean Fried Tempeh Tacos with gochujang and radish kimchee was, well, a taco to start, so it couldn’t really go wrong. But this may have been the best taco EVER. The Korean fried tempeh is spectacular (you’ll see it again at lunch) and all the accoutrements made a mix of flavors so good you wanted a thousand of these. Gochujang is a Korean fermented red chili paste, so this was spicy but only like a medium level. The tortillas were the best I’ve had in a long time. Ugh just look at all those toppings. I am so excited to do the taco cleanse in Austin in May and I hope that anything there can come close to this taco. This was hard to share with five people so if you are not alone I would suggest getting at least three.
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Next we have the bowls! The Singapore Noodles with char sui tofu, broccoli, peanuts, and lime sambal were absolutely delicious. Sambal is another type of chili pepper paste, so this was very spicy, but the flavors weren’t overpowered. The angel-hair-like noodles were unexpected and lovely. The Mushroom Dan Dan Noodles with shaved zucchini and spicy sesame also blew me away. The thicker creamier sauce was fantastic. I expected them to be my preferred noodle bowl, because a) mushrooms and b) dan dan noodles are like the greatest thing on earth, but I think I may have preferred the Singapore noodles. Maybe they’re tied. You should get both and see for yourself. I think I just have been spoiled by Han Dynasty’s dan dan noodles, which are unparalleled even in China. I’m assuming.
Singapore noodles. You’re BLURSULA
Mushroom dan dan noodles
Halo Halo. So much better than Beyonce’s.
That’s it for the savory food. Whew!!! I’m exhausted and also super hungry and very sad that I can’t have this food tonight; how about you? We still have dessert though. Getting all the dessert on the menu isn’t as notable a feat because there were only two options. (Their soft-serve machine wasn’t working that night, which is probably the saddest turn of events you could ever imagine, but luckily I had soft-serve at my lunch there, and we still had two excellent desserts.) The Halo Halo parfait contained taro ice cream – holy mother of god – and orange granita with pickled fruit mixed throughout. For a fruity dessert, this was surprisingly excellent. It was like fruit mixed with a sweet white cream but in ice cream parfait form. So lovely. Even better, obviously, because it’s a waffle, was the Waffle. Lolol that’s what it’s called on the menu. So the Waffle of Dreams which I renamed it (you’re welcome Rich) had a base of the most perfect waffle you could ever imagine, topped with chocolate ganache (like there’s ever any other kind of ganache), banana, miso caramel ffs, and sriracha peanuts. And then there was this peanutty chocolate cookie circle stuck on top. Freaking extraordinary. That’s all Kate Jacoby, mastress of the desserts. These people are amazing. Also, Danielle Konya of Vegan Treats was sitting near me, and I really wanted Kate to invite her backstage (into the kitchen) so the two of them, poss the best vegan desserters in the entire world, could work together on something and probably cause a new planet to form in the resulting wonderful flavor explosion.
WAFFLEMEISTER
So that is V Street, at least its current menu. I think I can safely say that this was one of the top five meals of my entire life. And I’ve eaten at all the great restaurants. Oh man. I cannot wait until May, when I am going back to visit home, and I get to eat here again (for my birthday!). I CANNOT WAIT.
V STREET, PHILADELPHIA
Water speed: Great – they give you glass bottles for the table! My favorite!
Service: Fantastic. Helpful and nice and had perfect timing. Of course, coming from the land of terrible service in London, I probably would think anything was good.
Bathrooms: Past the kitchen with the bar seating around it, so every time I went (all the time) I got to see Rich holding court.
Food: Freaking. Amazing.
Bonus: Since you can share everything, it ends up being a great value. They also had a superb drinks menu, according to my companions, especially the tequila-horchata specialty. Also, they don’t take reservations, but they do take your phone number to call you when your table’s ready so you don’t have to wait outside. And if you are like me, you can see Kate, Rich, and Danielle all in one night. If there was a vegan celebrity bingo game, I prob would have won.
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Celebrate Good(?) Times Come On: Babka for Yom Kippur
My piece!
Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, is the most sacred and important of all the Jewish holidays. You fast from sundown to sundown (so, a day) and pray, repent, atone, and hope that your past sins are forgiven. And then, if you are like 99% of Jews, you and your relatives break the fast with a smoked fish and lox platter from the local Jewish deli. So, to recap what we’ve learned the past few weeks, Rosh Hashanah:apples::Yom Kippur:bagels.
The bagel part is fine, but the huge platter of fish, not so much. I’ll usually make a hummus or two to add to the mix, and some kind of dessert. This year, I decided to up my game in the dessert area and finally make a recipe I’ve literally had saved for 3 years – VeganDad’s chocolate cinnamon babka. I mean, you don’t get any more Jewish than babka. Why haven’t I made this until now, I wondered? Everyone loves a babka! And chocolate and cinnamon combines the best types. Remember when Jerry & Elaine lost the famous chocolate babka?
The bagel part is fine, but the huge platter of fish, not so much. I’ll usually make a hummus or two to add to the mix, and some kind of dessert. This year, I decided to up my game in the dessert area and finally make a recipe I’ve literally had saved for 3 years – VeganDad’s chocolate cinnamon babka. I mean, you don’t get any more Jewish than babka. Why haven’t I made this until now, I wondered? Everyone loves a babka! And chocolate and cinnamon combines the best types. Remember when Jerry & Elaine lost the famous chocolate babka?
Poor customers of that bakery, having to choose between chocolate and cinnamon. As Joey Tribbiani, my usual source of inspiration, would say, “Put those hands together!”* Let’s do it!
Yeahh this yeast is jumping now!
Then I creamed sugar and Earth Balance (which I didn’t really measure; I just spooned it 6 times and figured it was close to 6 tablespoons), added yogurt, vanilla, the yeast, and then the flour. So, the recipe calls for 15 oz. of flour, which is basically 2 cups, right? I had to use nearly 5 cups and it was still sticky. With only 15 oz., it was pretty liquidy. Maybe I did something wrong, we’ll see. This is all very dramatic.
Then I kneaded kneaded kneeeeaded, ‘cleaned’ the mixing bowl, oiled it, and dropped the ball o’ dough in there. It says to let it sit, covered, for 2 hours, but I was out for 4. I returned to find it puffing nicely in the bowl. 
The best stuff on earth
So, next you roll this up length-wise, as tightly as you can. This is where I not only had trouble but didn’t read the instructions properly. I rolled pretty well (it’s a lot of dough here), but then you are supposed to cut it in half length-wise. Like, exposing chocolate. I cut it in half width-wise, creating two little stumpy arms. Oh well, it’ll taste the same (if you close your eyes*) no matter how you do it.
My stumpy twist
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I strayed from the recipe somewhat, as I am wont to do, so I’ll splain what I did. I started by warming up some almond milk and adding the yeast. (The recipe calls for 2T of instant yeast, but I had only the packets that are like 2 1/4 t or something. Whatever…we’ll see what happens.) But it didn’t get foamy! I was freaking out. Was it because I used almond milk instead of soy, as the directions said? Was it because my milk was unsweetened? Ahhh! Being somewhat yeast-fearing, I threw it out and started again. This time, I used warm water instead. I have only ever testfoamed yeast + water + sugar, so I stuck with what I know, and it properly Hulked out.
Punch punch punch!
Next, I made the filling. You melt chocolate, margarine, and cinnamon together, then spread it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and stick it in the fridge till firm. Once it is firm, roll out your dough into a big rectangle, like 2 feet long, a foot and a 1/2 wide, something like that, then place the chocolate layer right on top, in as many pieces as it takes.
Chocolate layer on top of the rolled-out dough
Rolling with the homies
So, because I did it wrong, my roll was short & stout like a teapot. But I kind of preferred it this way. Can you imagine how long it would have been the right way? And this way is more fun to pull apart.
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So, once you twist it, you let it sit and rise again for like 1.5 hours. I knowww. It’s probably worth it though. Important yeasting action happening. You probably want real directions, huh? (I’ll use what I did.)
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INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
Filling:
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DIRECTIONS:
Filling:
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ASSEMBLY:
Roll out your dough into a rectangle, about 2′ x 1.5′. Place the chocolate layer right on top of the dough, finagling to cover the whole square. Then, tightly roll the dough lengthwise. Then, cut it in half lengthwise – so the chocolate insides are exposed. And then twist the two halves together. Let this twist sit for 1.5 hours on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Then, bake for 25 minutes at 350°.
Yes, I am recommending that you cut it lengthwise, and not stumpily like I did. My outside browned really nicely, but it was still nearly raw inside. So, that’s the whole point of the long skinny cut – easier baking. I mean, when my version puffed up into a freaking cube, I knew the inside couldn’t be cooked.
Roll out your dough into a rectangle, about 2′ x 1.5′. Place the chocolate layer right on top of the dough, finagling to cover the whole square. Then, tightly roll the dough lengthwise. Then, cut it in half lengthwise – so the chocolate insides are exposed. And then twist the two halves together. Let this twist sit for 1.5 hours on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Then, bake for 25 minutes at 350°.
Yes, I am recommending that you cut it lengthwise, and not stumpily like I did. My outside browned really nicely, but it was still nearly raw inside. So, that’s the whole point of the long skinny cut – easier baking. I mean, when my version puffed up into a freaking cube, I knew the inside couldn’t be cooked.
That’s a huge bitch
It’s pretty great looking though. And yeah, it is DELICIOUS. I definitely recommend making it. But you’ll have an easier time if you cut it long-ways, and not how I did. I mean, this thing is never going to be done cooking. It is bigger than me. But it’s yummy!
*Remember, guess the source/comment on the things that are starred and you will be entered into my big MoFo giveaway! Details tomorrow!
From this post: What was Joey referring to when he said ‘Put those hands together’? And what is the source of the lyrics above the stumpy twist picture?
Feelings, New Orleans: Solid Food, Wonderful & Romantic Atmosphere
This was behind our table!
Several people, both vegan and omnivorous, told us about Feelings, saying it was a great dinner spot for vegans and omnivores to go together. They have a traditional and very exciting main menu, along with an entire separate vegan menu! It’s pretty much the restaurant equivalent of when both parties in Congress sit together at the State of the Union.
The food didn’t blow me away like some parts of Seed did, but overall it was good and very enjoyable. Still, the best part, and why it’s so recommended (especially for couples on their honeymoon?), is because most of the tables are in an inner courtyard, filled with flowers, plants, little fountains, and a lovely, intimate atmosphere.
Yeah, there were some spiders, but it was worth it for this lovely setting
I started with the Emerald City Salad, solely because of the name and because it was kale-based. I hadn’t had kale in DAYS. The salad was tossed in an olive oil dressing with bell peppers, fennel, and a Cajun grain mix. There were a bit too many peppers for my taste and not enough fennel or grains, but it was still pretty good. The kale pieces should have been chopped a bit smaller, though. I did some very unladylike maneuvering of the larger kale pieces. NBD, I mean it’s not like I have any table manners anyway.
For my entree, I had the wonderful Potato Tempeh Patties. You have the option of getting two of these patties, one of them and one Eggplant and Creole Tomato Napoleon thing, or two of the latter. While the waitress didn’t believe that I understood – because I guess most people like to get one of each option – I vehemently stuck to my order of two potato tempeh patties because I read on LazySmurf’s blog that they were fuuuuunom. And she was right! They were wonderful, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. I love tempeh, and blending it with potato sounds like the perfect thing to do. The tomato topping was a little too vinegary; I would have preferred something a little creamier, like a tomato cashew cream, rather than a vinaigrette. But it was still very good! The side of zucchini ribbons was kind of ridiculous. They should have been actual ribbons, sliced with a mandolin or a spiralizer, but instead they were just long chopped zucchini pieces. So that was kind of dumb.
We also shared a mushroom boudin, a vegan take on the very famous local sausage. I’m sure using seitan or soy would have produced a more realistic dish, but I liked the mushroom base. It was served with some decent bread. OH important note – the garlic bread that they put on the table at the beginning is NOT vegan.
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The different kinds of mushrooms were mixed with jasmine rice and coconut oil, and steamed in a corn husk. It was really fun to play with the corn husk, but I think it made it a little too soft. It would have been even better with some crispy edges. It was still pretty yummy though!
The desserts were just sorbet – restaurant cheating/laziness in my opinion – and a carrot torte that sounded good but I had that Whole Foods carrot cake waiting. The staff didn’t rush us at all, though, so we just sat and enjoyed the lovely atmosphere for a little longer.
Overall, Feelings was a wonderful dinner spot. While the food wasn’t amazing, it was solid and enjoyable. The courtyard setting is so beautiful with all the greenery and candlelight, so if you are looking for a romantic spot, this is where you should go.
FEELINGS, NEW ORLEANS
Water speed: Pretty good!
Bathrooms: Ahhhh I don’t remember!!! That’s probably good?
Service: Very very nice and helpful.
Food: Solid!
Bonus: Sit in the lovely courtyard and you will be so happy.
